“River of Champions” is the story of a gritty high school hockey team’s extraordinary run for the Minnesota State hockey championship. Although the book is set in the 1950s, its story is a true account written in the form of a novel that is still real today.
All the eternal themes are here -- sibling rivalry, teenage rebellion, brooding loners with something to prove -- and, best of all, it’s an account of how a group of players bond and become a true team in every sense of the word. They take the entire town along for the ride.
Author Mary Halverson Schofield decided to write a good hockey book for her 10-year-old son, Andy. “At the time, there weren’t many hockey books suited for a child,” Schofield says. “Movies like “Slapshot” and “Youngblood” were around, but they weren’t right for a boy his age. I wanted my son to see that these boys practiced and learned by doing. They had the uncanny ability to inspire each other.”
She knew the story well because she was a junior as this high school team from Thief River, Minn., began its quest for the state championship.
“That was a simpler time, an honest era. But something inside that particular group of boys was special. They had a coach who was there for them when they needed him, yet they truly found ways to push each other,” says Schofield.
Schofield worked as an English teacher. Not many sports books have chapter names taken from Shakespeare, but here they fit perfectly. Members of the hockey team struggle to memorize Shakespearean passages for their classes to maintain their eligibility to play hockey. By helping, pushing and inspiring each other, the boys accomplish the seemingly insurmountable task of reciting poetry.
Schofield interviewed more than 100 people, including members of the teams that played against the Thief River boys. “I wanted to be sure I had everything correct from both standpoints,” she says. “I didn’t get any conflicting stories. Everyone’s account was very similar.”
This Thief River players decided on their own to “skate the river” before school to get in extra practice. The reader is taken back to when the boys are youngsters watching the big boys play and yearning to be like them some day.
When they become teenagers themselves and it’s their time, they come to realize that they will all need to work harder to live up to their own expectations. Each boy commits himself to doing all he can to try and win the championship.
The Thief River coach takes one look at his team on the first day of practice and knows he is in for a long season. What he isn’t aware of is the determination of these kids and what they are doing before school and after practices to improve.
Schofield’s description of the biting cold, the blinding blizzards and the stark desolation of the plains is remarkable. The reader experiences a road trip the boys take without permission just as a major snowstorm is approaching. This frightening adventure rings true, and brutal cold is an ever-present “character” in this story.
The season’s highs and lows, the cheerleaders, fans, parents and all the other characters around the team are brought to life and the reader comes to care very much about them.
“Nobody who knew them ever forgot about them,” says Schofield. “We had a reunion a few years ago in Thief River to honor the team in conjunction with the release of my book. I expected about 250 people. More than 2,000 turned up.”
“River of Champions” was first published in 1995, and reprinted in 1999. It is available again on Amazon.com. |
